Ball Aerospace president Robert Strain talks with Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, right, and Andrea Chavez, director of manufacturing and test operations, during a tour of Ball Aerospace & Technologies in Boulder on Thursday.

BOULDER — The nation’s secretary of commerce said Thursday that the U.S. needs to increase the stature of manufacturing jobs, a statement that struck a chord with local and state business leaders who met with the newly minted Cabinet official.

U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker held a roundtable at Ball Aerospace & Technologies, which followed a tour of Ball.

The visit to Boulder-based Ball kicked off a nationwide tour for the new secretary.

During the roundtable — which was closed to the news media — Ball Aerospace president Rob Strain said Pritzker expressed strong interested in creating jobs “across all levels.” He said before leaving the meeting that Pritzker said, “We have to get back to a place where manufacturing is cool again.”

“She had a particular interest in making sure training is available for manufacturing jobs,” Strain said.

“When I first entered office, my staff asked me what my priorities are,” Pritzker told the roundtable attendees in remarks ahead of the discussion. “I said my first priority is to go out and listen to the business community so we can shape our goals on your goals.”

Pritzker said her priorities — developed from her talks with business leaders — include expanding the nation’s free trade agreements, promoting manufacturing jobs and increasing the department’s advocacy of U.S. businesses abroad.

“(Businesses) want us to work with them to promote them around the world,” Pritzker said in an interview after the roundtable discussion.

Avram Saunders, president of Lightning Eliminators & Consultants Inc., said Pritzker came across as “very impressive,” due to her informality at the meeting. He said Pritzker listened intently to each of the roundtable attendees as they went around and discussed what they wanted from the Commerce Department.

Saunders also said he thought everyone left the discussion with his same positive impression.

“She is a politician, but it feels real,” he said.

During the tour, Pritzker viewed Ball’s aerospace manufacturing facility and saw a few of Ball’s projects, such as WorldView-3, an imaging satellite the company is building for DigitalGlobe.

Pritzker said Ball was a “natural place for (the department) to go” because of the company’s partnerships with the Commerce Department, such as the work Ball is doing on the Joint Polar Satellite System for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which operates under the Commerce Department.

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